Bone scan appearance and biochemical markers of the bone metabolism in hemodialysis patients

Background : The gold standard for a diagnosis of ROD is performing a bone biopsy. We need other non-invasive diagnostic techniques because of this procedure's invasiveness. In this study, we evaluated the value of a radionucleotide bone scan and the various biochemical markers for determining the bone metabolism in hemodialysis patients. Methods : This study evaluated 118 hemodialysis patients who underwent 99mTc-MDP bone scanning and blood tests for such biochemical markers as osteocalcin and c-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen. Two nuclear medicine physicians read the bone scan images semi-quantitatively for six bone areas and the soft tissue, and they assigned a score of 0, 1 or 2 to the findings. Results : The patients were categorized into 3 classes: iPTH